Germany Demands Reforms of Kindergarten

I found this interesting because the very word kindergarten is a German word.


A new government report released Thursday demands reforms to the pre-school education system, among them improving the training of teachers in kindergartens -- a situation that's badly in need of change in Germany.

In recent years, there's been a growing realization in Germany that kindergarten isn't just a place for children to romp and play, but also where they begin to learn the ropes of reading, writing and arithmetic-- skills that are usually associated with school-age kids.

A slew of international studies have made it clear that the early childhood years are optimal for kids to learn basic skills thanks to their inherent curiosity and help them perform better when they enter primary schools at the age of six.

It's little wonder then that the new children and youth report issued by the German government on Thursday recommends allowing kids as young as two to enter kindergarten, and changing the way kindergartens and schools are traditionally viewed in Germany.

"In future schools must provide for more supervision and upbringing, while kindergartens and day-care centers should increase their focus on education," Thomas Rauschenbach, director of the German Youth Institute (DIJ) and head of the seven-member commission that drew up the report for the German government told the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung. "All children profit from it by the time they complete two years," Rauschenbach added.